SECURITY guards yesterday stopped members of the Volunteers for Jun-jun Davide from entering a village where the mansion of Rep. Pablo John Garcia, which is the subject of a complaint before the Office of Ombudsman, is located.
The group led by Roberto Letaba, said they went to Garcia’s house in Guadalupe Heights to conduct a “lifestyle check” after the congressman, who is running for governor under the One Cebu party, had said that his house is “open to the public”.
“Apan wala ko pasudla sa guard on duty ug kutob ra ko sa guard house kay gipahibaw na daan ni Pablo John diay nga dili gayud pasudlan ug pakohaan ug footage ang iyang mansion,” Letaba said.
(We were stopped at the guardhouse as the security guard did not allow us to get in. We found out that they were ordered beforehand by Pablo John not to allow anybody to take a footage of his mansion.)
Davide and Garcia are contesting Cebu’s gubernatorial seat.
Letaba challenged Garcia to explain where he got the cash reflected in his Statement of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth (SALN).
The congressman’s SALN indicate that from P2.4 million in 2007, his cash holdings increased to P12 million in 2009 and then it decreased to P2.5 million in 2011. He said they wanted to know how he was able to obtain such amount considering that in the year 2001-2002, he was totally bankrupt.
“Karon sa maong mga kwarta ato ma-relate ang questionable ga pagtukod sa mansion ni PJ sa Guadalupe Heights kay wala maka takdo sa iyang kwarta gi-deklara sa SALN niya.”
(Based on the money trail, we can relate that the PJ’s mansion in Guadalupe Heights is questionable as it doesn’t match with what he declared in his SALN.)
He said, Garcia’s Guadalupe home was worth P900,000 in 2010 based on his declared SALN. The value increased to P10.4 million in 2011
“Inconsistent man kaayo ang flow sa kwarta ni Pablo John sa iyang SALN, ang katawhan man iyang tontohon ani,” he said.
Letaba said he was amazed why Garcia had asked the House of Representatives secretariat not to reveal his SALN last October 3, 2010. A copy of Garcia’s letter request was distributed to the media during a news conference.
In a earlier interview, Garcia said he is willing to submit the documents that the Ombudsman needs about how he acquired his house.
He said he and his wife, Karen took a P10 bank loan to buy the house in 2008.
He said he spent P900,000 to acquire a lot with no road-right-of-way (RROW) in barangay Guadalupe for this.
“We acquired a RROW from a subdivision adjacent to the lot,” he said.
The congressman said the P10 million housing loan from a bank went to build the house.
“The house’s constructiion, the acquisition of the RROW and the property’s integration into a respectable subdivision would explain the increase in its value. Up to now we are still paying that 10-year bank loan,” Garcia said.
“Now, Davide is hiding behind the name of Roberto Letaba. This is a pattern, like the way he hides behind the name of his father,” he said in reference to Davide’s father former chief justice Hilario Davide Jr.
Letaba is the same person who asked the Ombudsman to do lifestyle check on Mandaue City Mayor Jonas Cortes, also over his mansion.